uDevGames 2002

The uDevGame Mac Game Programming Contest was established by iDevGames in 2001 to energize game development on the Apple Macintosh platform. The hugely successful inaugural contest saw 20 game entries from around the world. The entry list for uDevGame 2002 grew to 41 games competing for over $11,900 in prizes from over two dozen companies. While uDevGame 2001 was a two month contest, uDevGame 2002 gave entrants three months to create their games. Now an annual event, the underlying themes of uDevGame are to create, educate, and succeed:

Create

We hope that uDevGame will stimulate the creation of games on the Macintosh by encouraging people to develop new and original games for the platform.

Educate

The need for qualified Macintosh programmers is greater now than ever thanks to Apple’s exciting new operating system, MacOS X. Participants in uDevGame will actively help in the education of the Macintosh developers, as well as encourage and enhance the interest of those new to the platform.

Succeed

uDevGame draws attention to those that develop unique and exciting games for the Macintosh, as well as help introduce the best and brightest Macintosh game development talent to development houses and publishers alike.

The Challenge

Even with talented programmers, creative designers, and powerful tools, typical game development times are long. Yet the uDevGame competition asks that original games be created in a relatively short period. The reason for this is simple: we wish to showcase what can be done on the Macintosh and demonstrate how quickly and simply it can be achieved. Whilst presentation is an important consideration with any game, developers should concentrate on the core of the game itself: its gameplay. Incentives for high quality graphics, sound, polish, and originality will, of course, also be given. Entries must not be written in a “wizard” game creation environment, but rather in a “traditional” programming language which makes education more plausible. Despite that one restriction, uDevGame is open to ALL Mac developers regardless of location or programming skill.

The Platform

The Macintosh is quickly establishing itself as the premier platform to develop for, and we at iDevGames feel the combination of Mac Hardware and MacOS X provides a superb gaming platform. Also, Apple’s free developer tools and technologies such as the Cocoa framework, Objective-C language, Project Builder integrated development environment, and Interface Builder, create a prime environment for rapid game development — necessary for uDevGame’s short and demanding schedule. In short, uDevGame is a way to highlight the Macintosh as not only a great games platform, but also as a tool capable of producing the most innovative titles in the industry.